Glowing Embers Never Die
by TheAsterousAuthor
Summary: Coriander da Costa is keeping more than a few secrets, and her second life as Ember, Fire's partner, is one of them. She's got her flaws and her imperfections, and she knows there are things in her past that she isn't- and shouldn't be -proud of. But when a team of teenage superheroes comes together, the skeletons in her closet will come out to play. OC story!
1. The Day

**Just letting you know, this story may change to third person POV but for now I'm sticking with first. Yeah. *shrug*** **I used Google Translate for all of the translations to Portuguese, so correct me if I'm wrong :)**

 **I hope you enjoy! :)**

"Words" = **Speaking**

 _Words_ = **Thinking (most of the time)**

Ember POV

Haven Park, Gateway City

July 4, 9:45 PDT

I swear, villains always choose the worst times to go on rampages. It's like they know what days are inconvenient for us heroes, and they make sure to go on crime sprees then, just to be spiteful.

Take today, for example. It's probably one of the most important days of my life, the day all of the proteges are _finally_ going to be accepted into the League. But of course, Blizzard _has_ to start attacking civilians in Haven Park instead of minding her own business and _having a normal crime-free life._

"What is she even doing here? It's California! You know, sun, beaches, heat? Ice and snow will get you nowhere!" I shouted, dodging a blast of snow. Spinning quickly, I shot a burst of flame at Blizzard then ducked back behind my tree for protection.

Fire shook her head, throwing green fireballs in the ice villainess' direction. "I try not to question it," she replied, "It gets the job done faster."

I lept out from behind my tree and ducked to dodge an oncoming ice blast. Thinking quickly, I made a ring of fire appear around Blizzard that melted any ice blasts she tried to create.

Growling, the villainess shot herself up in the air via rapidly-created ice block and skated down to the ground, creating an ice path in front of her as she went, her silver cloak fluttering behind her. Landing on the grass, now covered with frost, she spun a finger in the air, creating a fleet of small, but rapidly growing, snowy hurricanes that she proceeded to flick in my direction.

The blizzards flew across the clearing and surrounded me, closing in quickly. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself up into the air with a powerful burst of flame that conveniently melted the flurries. Floating uneasily, I used my current bird's-eye view to assess the situation.

Luckily, all the civilians had cleared out of the area as soon as Fire and I showed up, probably because we were known to cause a lot of damage when stopping criminals. Blizzard was fighting with Fire, shooting sharp icicles at her while Fire retaliated by spontaneously combusting and singing everything in a 10-meter radius.

"Thought you would do that soon enough," I whispered, swooping down closer. I raised my hands, smiling as they burst into flame, and threw more than a few balls of fire at Blizzard's back.

Blizzard cried out in pain as one of the blasts hit its mark, sending her tumbling to the ground. I landed on the grass not as gracefully as I would have liked, but recovered quickly, clearing my throat. As the ice villain was pushing herself off the grass, Fire walked up and kicked her in the face, knocking her out. She rolled over slightly from the force of the kick, showing me her pale skin, silvery-blue hair, and light blue pants-and-strapless-top combination.

"Have fun in the cooler," Fire said, "I hear it's real chill,"

I shot my mentor an _Are you serious?_ look.

"What?"

"'Have fun in the cooler?' 'Real chill?' Is that the best you could come up with?" I said, snorting and making a face at her horribly cheesy puns.

"I thought they were good," she said sending me a slightly hurt look, her brazilian accent deepening with her confusion.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Fire."

"Ember…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We're going to be late." I waved off her scoldings, bouncing up and down in anticipation. "Today's the day!"

* * *

Washington, D.C.

July 4, 13:50 EDT

Fire and I skidded to a stop next to the rest of the mentors and proteges in front of the Hall of Justice after running from a zeta tube in an abandoned photo booth.

"Yes!" I cheered, jumping up and down, "We're not the last ones to get here!" When I noticed everyone's weirded out looks pointed towards me, even Fire's, I blushed and cleared my throat.

Have I ever mentioned my enormous fear of being humiliated in public? No? Well, sadly, I do it a lot. And it always seems to be in front of important people, this time being no exception.

 _Yelling like a hyper four year old in front of Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Speedy, plus embarrassing myself more than usual? Check! I can cross_ that _off the bucket list._ I thought sarcastically. _What is wrong with me today?!_ This day was not going how I hoped it would.

I hunched my shoulders in an attempt to seem smaller. Choosing to stand next to Robin with Fire behind me, I stepped into line with the other sidekicks. I blushed even more, if that was possible, when I noticed that Speedy was looking at me, his angry gaze saying " _Be serious and don't ruin this for us!"_

There are a few things you should know about me. I'm pretty shy, I'm adopted, I'm a hero… And of course, I have a massive, fangirl-y crush on Speedy. Seriously, I used to hang up pictures of him from newspapers on my wall and make 'Speedy-collages'. No joke, I was one of the most obsessed people, ever. But even if I acted ridiculous, he did really have a good impact on me. I was feeling happier for the first time since... _it_ … happened.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed Robin looking at me sympathetically. "I'm Robin, Batman's partner, duh. And don't worry Ember, I've been caught doing worse things, on camera, even. Once," he lowered his voice, looking around furtively to make sure no one was listening, "I was chasing a thug, and I tripped on my own cape and fell. Face-planted on the sidewalk. It got a few hundred thousand hits on Youtube." He smiled, seemingly trying to put me at ease.

"H-hello," I said, voice shaking slightly. "I'm Ember." I winced at my own awkwardness. "Except you obviously already knew that." I mentally face palmed, disappointed that it only took ten words to make myself seem like an idiot to the first hero protege ever.

"Today is the day," Batman said, putting a gloved hand on Robin's shoulder and giving him what almost looked like a smile, thankfully interrupting our awkward conversation.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," said Green Arrow.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," Aquaman finished.

I glanced behind me when I heard Kid Flash's voice. "Aww, man!" he complained. "I knew we'd be the last ones here!"

"Oh…" Was all I could say, stammering, "Um… h-hi? You're Kid Flash, right?"

"That's me, beautiful! The one and only," he said smugly, winking in my direction.

"R-right," I said, still nervous, "O-of course,"

I sighed as Batman spoke again. _Way to go, Cor! Stuttering more than Peter Parker did in The Amazing Spider-man. Why do I have to be such a shy scaredy-cat!? Yeah, you've never met any of them before, other than Speedy, once, but this has become ridiculous,_ I thought, sighing again.

"Now that everyone is here, we may begin," Aquaman interjected, finishing whatever Batman had said.

 _I have to stop zoning out! Pay attention!_ I mentally berated myself.

Noticing the rest of the group was walking (or in the speedsters' case, practically vibrating) towards the entrance, I made a move to follow them when Fire placed a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked, sounding concerned. "It seemed like you wanted to be anywhere but here."

"Well, embarrassing yourself in front of Batman," _And Speedy,_ "Will do that to a girl."

* * *

Cameras flashed and fans whispered as we walked to the doors.

"Is that Batman?"

"There's Fire! Gosh, she's just so amazing!"

"Yeah, but who's the beanpole next to her?"

 _I'm her partner, idiota²!_ I wanted to yell out angrily. _And I'm not_ that _tall._ Instead, I just hugged myself, rubbing my upper arms anxiously.

I know I've only been in the hero business for about two years, but I thought at least a _few_ more people knew I existed. I guess it's just kind of depressing to realize you're a nobody in everyone's eyes. But, even if they don't know me, I'm still doing the best I can to make a difference. In the end, it always turns back around to the greater good.

"Oh my goodness, I see Flash, and Flash Junior!"

"His name's Speedy, duh."

"No, Speedy is Green Arrow's sidekick!

"Well that makes no sense."

I snorted softly at that, smiling ever so slightly to myself, briefly forgetting my troubles.

Robin nudged me gently, seemingly agreeing with my amusement.

"They never do get his name right," he whispered, cackling quietly.

"I'm glad we're all here," Aqualad interjected, making me look up from our conversation.

"It is great to have us together," I added shyly, blushing when Speedy looked my way. Eyes flicking from me to him, Robin elbowed me, mouthing " _You have got it bad for him,_ "

I opened and closed my mouth, but came up short with retorts. My face was probably crimson from all my blushing.

Kid Flash spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts, "Have all five sidekicks ever been at the same place at the same time?"

" _Don't_ call us sidekicks. Not after today," Roy said in an "Arguing-is-pointless" kind of tone.

"Sorry," Wally apologized, "First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed."

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" Robin asked. "Oh… maybe that's why,"

"Wow… " I said softly as I gaped at the giant, imposing statues of the members of the Justice League.

I turned slowly in a circle, looking up at the monuments to our great heroes. They make a girl feel insignificant in comparison. Flicking my eyes downward, I noticed no one else seemed as awed as me. Clearing my throat, I toned down the fangirl inside, standing quietly once more, not wanting to stand out as the _louco³_ one.

In front of us, a door with the words " **Authorized Personnel Only** " in red slid open, revealing Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado. They stepped forward and Martian Manhunter spoke, "Robin, Speedy, Ember, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome."

Both the robot and the alien turned around and headed back through the doors, inviting us along. Robin and Wally fist bumped while the rest of us exchanged glances before following.

"You now unlimited access to the gym," he pointed towards a set of double doors, "Our fully stocked galley," he continued, gesturing to a doorway with delicious smells wafting out. Robin had to physically restrain Kid Flash from going in there. "And of course, our library," Martian Manhunter persisted, unaware of the frantic struggle the teenage speedster was making in an effort to enter the kitchen, and concluded our tour by showing us into a final room filled with bookshelves.

"Make yourselves at home," Flash said before, well, _flashing_ us a smile.

 _Thank you, I will,_ I thought. _A girl could get used to this. More books than I could read in a lifetime!_

Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash sat in the three armchairs, the last still disappointed by the lack of food, while Speedy and I were left standing.

I walked along the bookshelves, scanning the titles for anything that seemed interesting while half tuning out everyone else. The books seemed to be organised in sections by topic, and I was sifting through the **Known Foreign Planets in the Vicinity of Earth**. I was just pulling out a novel titled _History and Physiology of the Felidae Lupus_ to read its back cover when one of the Leaguers spoke up, knocking me out of book wonderland.

"We shouldn't be long," Batman said. _Wait, they're leaving?_ He turned around and faced a door with a scanner above it. A beam shot out of it and began sweeping across his body, speaking in a robotic female voice.

 _Recognized: Batman 0-2, Aquaman 0-6, Flash 0-4, Green Arrow 0-8, Fire 1-7, Martian Manhunter 0-7, Red Tornado 1-6._

The doors slid open, revealing a dark hallway. The mentors started walking into it when Speedy stopped them.

"That's it?" he said angrily. "You promised us a real look inside. Not a glorified backstage pass!"

"It's a first step," Aquaman said.

"Few others get to be where you are," Fire added.

"Oh really?" he exclaimed, gesturing to the large windows for tourists taking pictures, which were indeed illuminated by regular flashes. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy," My eyes widened. Speedy - well, Roy, I guess - never told me anything about his secret identity. "You just need to be patient," Green Arrow continued, oblivious to my surprise.

"What I need, is respect," he spat out, turning around to face the rest of us. "They're treating us like kids! Worse, like _sidekicks_. We deserve better than this."

Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin exchanged glances. I just stood there waiting for this to play itself out. _I guess he's right, sort of,_ I thought, _But the Leaguers haven't really done anything wrong. This is what we were promised, right?_

"You're kidding, right?" Roy said in disbelief. "You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be _the_ day! Step one of becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

"Well, sure. But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ?" Wally questioned, looking kind of confused.

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!"

 _What?_ I thought in shock as the League members' eyes widened. _That can't be true…_

"I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists! And a pit stop for catching zeta beam teleporters to the real thing," he continued, "An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

 _No…_ I thought, _Fire wouldn't lie to my face like that… She's the last shred of family I have left. We're_ partners _._

Green Arrow turned and looked at Batman, trying to intervene, "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?" Batman's glare only deepened. "Or not."

"You are not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman interjected. "Stand down. Or -"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son!" Speedy turned, looking towards Green Arrow. "I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner… But," he continued, reaching up and pulling off his canary-colored hat before tossing it forcefully to the ground, "Not anymore."

 _What?!_ I thought in shock, my eyes widening. _He's leaving? But… we're so close to joining the League! He can't just leave that all behind!_

Speedy turned around and walked to the doors. "Guess they're right about you four," he growled, passing us. We straightened indignantly, but our retorts faded off our tongues as he continued. "You're _not_ ready."

I glanced quickly at Robin and Aqualad, waiting for their reactions. When they did nothing, I ran towards the still-open doors, trying to catch up. Behind me, I heard some sort of alarm blaring quietly until the doors slid shut, muffling the noise. Before they closed, I looked back and gave Fire a hurt look, saying with my eyes _How could you?_

"R- Speedy! Wait!" I called, chasing after his quickly retreating figure.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Well… um… uh…" _Oh man, this was so much easier in my head._ I thought, desperately searching for words.

"Spit it out, Ember. I don't have time for this."

I blushed and sighed. So much for preparation. _Be brave,_ I thought, _You can do this! It doesn't matter that he's been your crush for over three years! Just pretend it's Fire… or something._

"Look, Speedy. I know you're angry. We all are! Anyone would be," I said, exhaling through my mouth then continuing. "But that doesn't mean you should quit! Think of all the good you and Green Arrow have done together! You've saved innumerable lives and given hope to so many lost souls. Why give that all up over a secret? You're-"

"That's exactly it," he interrupted me. "If me and GA could do all that, think of what I could accomplish without him and all this," he gestured all around us, "To hold me back! I could be useful instead of just being stuck on the sidelines, following commands like some kind of lapdog. If I can just break free of all of their rules and orders, I can make a difference for the ones that count! So thanks, but no thanks, for that useless suggestion. I _won't_ take it to heart, okay?"

I could practically feel a crack opening in my heart. Tears rushed to my eyes as I turned around to go back to the library.

 _I won't give him the satisfaction,_ I thought, a sob silently shaking my shoulders. _He'll probably be_ glad _that he hurt me._

"Wait… " he said in a softer voice, "I didn't mean it like that…"

"Well what did you mean then?" I whirled around, intent on giving him a piece of my mind. I saw his eyes widen at the sight of the tears streaming down my face, but right now, I didn't care. "Huh? Was it 'You're not worth my time'? Or maybe 'Get the hell out of here so I can do whatever I want like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum'? Because if that's the message you wanted to send, I hear it loud and clear!" I screamed, voice thick. "I hear it loud and clear…" I whispered.

"Ember…"

"Leave me alone so I can get back to the _real_ heroes, the ones willing to stick around, even if the going gets tough. Unlike _some people_ I could mention." I glared fiercely, attempting to be scolding even if my eyes were wet.

He winced and sighed, but still backed off.

" _Thank_ you." I turned and walked away from him, wiping away my tears. _He's not worth them._

* * *

Rushing back into the library after making sure I looked presentable and not weepy and red-eyed, I was slightly surprised by the lack of League members in the room. _Where did they go?_ I wondered, noting the fact that Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad had looks of frustration on their faces.

I cleared my throat, knocking on a bookshelf so they would notice me. "Hello?" I said softly.

Robin and Kid Flash turned in my direction but made no other sign that they heard me. Aqualad was completely lost in thought.

"So… um… where are the Leaguers?" I asked quietly. My question seemed to snap all of them out of their thinking trances.

Their frowns deepened. "Our mentors… left us here so that they could complete a mission. Wotan is attempting to blot out the sun, I believe?" Aqualad explained.

"Bottom line, they abandoned us here until it was convenient again for them to have us back by their sides, or when we're 'ready'," Robin said, sighing.

 _What is that supposed to mean?!_

"When we're ready?" Kid Flash scoffed. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like… like sidekicks!" He gestured around wildly to show his frustration.

"My mentor… My king…" Aqualad said sadly. "I thought he trusted me."

 _I don't think that the League understands the concept of "Trust is a two way street,"_

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in _space_!" Wally yelled, pointing above us to emphasize his point.

"What other secrets have they kept from us?" I asked softly, still processing. "Can we even know that anything they told us was true?"

Robin sighed angrily. "I have a better question. Why didn't we leave with Speedy?" We all looked down.

"What is… Project Cadmus?" Kaldur asked, looking up.

I looked to them with confusion. Project Cadmus? Is that some kind of program or something?

"Don't know. But I can find out," Robin grinned, turning around and walking to the computer. He started typing quickly, probably trying to hack into the systems.

" _Access Denied,"_ the computer said.

"Heh. Wanna bet?" Smirking smugly, he continued typing furiously, making what looked like absolute gibberish appear on the computer's screen, scrolling down at extremely high speeds.

"Whoa. How are you doing that?" Wally asked, looking as confused about what I assumed was a computer code as I felt.

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin said proudly, tapping on one last key.

 _Access Granted,_ the computerized voice intoned.

"Boy Wonder's got moves!" Kid Flash exclaimed, punching Robin on the shoulder.

"Ow," he winced, shaking out his arm.

"Are you okay?" I asked, stepping closer to the computer and Robin, worried.

"Yeah, fine. Let's just see what there is in the file."

 _Duh, Cor._ The _Batman's protegé has definitely been through worse than a friendly punch to the arm. Stupid!_

A file had opened on the computer, containing some text and a few pictures of a plain white office building with only a few floors.

"Alright, Project Cadmus, genetics lab here in DC. That's all there is," Robin said confusedly. "But if Batman's suspicious… maybe we should investigate," he finished, smirking.

"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice," Aqualad said.

"Hey," Robin laughed, "They're all about justice! Plus," he added thoughtfully, "There could be people there caught inside. Ember, you'd be great with that. You could help the fire department out."

"But the League said to stay here," I said softly, "And extinguishing fires is a really advanced skill. If it's not my own fire, I don't even know I could do it."

"They told us not to interfere with the blotting out the sun mission, not this!" Robin reasoned, still grinning. "And you've done a great job before. Remember San Francisco?"

"Hey, how did you know about that? I didn't tell anyone..." I asked, my eyes widening, jaw dropping with shock. Nobody knew about that, not even Fire.

He pointed to himself, smile never fading. "Bat,"

"Wait. Are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going," Kid Flash said excitedly.

They both looked at me pleadingly, "Ember?" Kid Flash asked. "You coming with, hot stuff?"

I sighed. "I guess," I said softly. "Only thing to do here is read,"

 _Actually_ , I thought, _That doesn't sound like too bad of a thing to do. Are you guys sure I can't stay?_

They turned towards Aqualad, grins on their faces. "Just like that, we're a team on a mission," he said.

"We came for the real deal," I said, voice growing stronger as I was slowly convinced that this was the right idea.

"Not for a playdate," Robin finished.

Aqualad smirked slightly, and we all turned and ran out the door to complete our new mission: investigate Project Cadmus.

* * *

 **¹ Querido means darling in Portuguese.**

 **² Idiota means (obviously) idiot in Portuguese.**

 **³ Louca means crazy in Portuguese.**

 **How'd you guys like Ember? I know, she's overly shy, but that's just how she is. Right now, she's only really comfortable around Fire, but as she gets used to the Team, she'll relax more and stop being so nervous.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think! Did you like it? Hate it? Lurve it? Not really care? I don't care (well, I care a little bit), just let me know, and I'll try to improve if you think there's things I need to work on. R &R!**

 ** **PS: Ember's 17 (I kinda think she acts younger, but meh), in case you're wondering.****


	2. Project Kr

**Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, or favorited! I'm glad y'all liked it. Love you guys. *hands out cookies* You get cookies for being awesome. (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

 **Chapter 2!**

* * *

Ember POV

Project Cadmus, D.C.

July 4, 6:00 EDT

We made it to Cadmus fairly quickly, running through the streets of DC. Once we arrived at the building, Kid Flash ran ahead and sprinted up the building's side. I saw him rush to catch two scientists that fell from the building because an explosion behind them launched them into the air, and he almost fell himself but just barely caught a ledge in time. A nearby fireman pointed at him and yelled out his thanks (although he called him Flash Boy, which made Robin and I laugh).

"So smooth," Robin commented.

"Does he always have to run ahead?" Aqualad asked. "We need a plan. Wha-" He looked around confused, as Robin had just disappeared. "Robin?"

 _Darn Bats,_ I grumbled internally.

We heard his cackling coming from the Cadmus building, making us look up at him. He was at the top of the crane, scampering up the side. He shot his grapple gun, swinging in through the broken window and helping Kid Flash up.

I sighed, letting Aqualad take control of the situation. "Ember, you put out the fire, and I will help the scientists down from the roof," He ordered, running to the firemen. "I need to borrow that!" he said, using his water bearers to create a platform out of the water and shoot himself up into the air.

As he was rescuing the Cadmus employees, I used a fiery pulse to propel me upwards and land in the middle of the burning room, entering through the window. Reaching the fire, I closed my eyes and concentrated. _Breathe in,_ I thought, _Breathe out. You can do this._ I focused on the flames flickering around me, studying the pattern of sparks and and the fire's dancing movements. Slowly, I pulled my hands downward in a calming motion. As I moved, still attuned to both my breathing and inferno raging around me, the flames gradually decreased in size. _It's working!_ I thought excitedly. Exhaling slowly, I spun in a circle to make sure the entire fire was put out.

Satisfied with my work, I turned to the next room over, but not before scouting out the hallway quickly for anything suspicious or worth investigating. Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, I twisted in time to see the elevator doors closing in front of some kind of horned… creature.

"Guys…" I said incredulously, "There was something in the -"

"Elevators should be locked down," Kid Flash said, speeding through a doorway.

"This is wrong," Robin said, approaching the elevator and typing in his holo-glove. "Thought so. This is a high speed express elevator. It doesn't belong on a two story building."

"I don't think horned… things are that common, either," I added. "Aqualad, the doors?"

"Of course," he replied, grunting as he pulled open the elevator. We all stepped closer to the edge, peering down into the descending darkness.

"And that's why they need an express elevator," Robin concluded, crouching on the edge.

"That," I said, swallowing thickly, "Is a long way down."

Robin shot his grapple gun at the ceiling before jumping into the elevator shaft. Aqualad, Kid Flash and I exchanged glances, before shrugging and following him. Kid Flash and Aqualad slid down Robin's rope, while I, on the other hand, chose not to risk rope burns and stood on a platform of fire, descending more slowly (although less efficiently) than the others.

Soon enough, I heard Robin said in a surprised tone, "I'm at the end of my rope." He swung to the ledge by the nearest elevator doors, Kid Flash and Aqualad quickly copying his movements. I stepped off of my platform and onto the ledge, then snapped my fingers, making the flames from my platform dissipate instantly. Oddly enough, there was **SL26** painted on the doors. Secret Level 26, maybe?

"Bypassing security… there!" Robin said, obviously hacking the security systems. "Go!"

Aqualad pried open the doors, straining slightly as he did. We stepped into into an immense hallway that surprised us all slightly with its size. It was dimly lit, with dull-colored walls, and was seemingly made mostly of metal. The ceiling was high and it was really wide, big enough the fit an elephant or two, side by side.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin said.

"The _real_ Project Cadmus," I muttered, eyes flicking around and taking in my surroundings.

Of course, being a bit of an idiot, Kid Flash sped ahead, probably trying to get information before the rest of us. He skidded down a different hallway, in a total rush.

"Kid, wait!" Aqualad whisper-shouted, running after him with Robin and I not far behind.

Kid Flash attempted to stop at the sound of what _seemed_ like giant footsteps, but failed miserably, tripping then falling over into another new hallway. The ends of my hair caught on fire, flickering brightly.

I gasped, drawing up short when I noticed a crowd enormous elephant-gorilla looking things about to crush him as they walked. "Kid, look out!" I shouted.

This seemed to knock him out of his state of shock, as he scrambled out of the way quickly, just barely avoiding being squashed by one of the beast's feet.

We all gaped at the large creatures as they thudded by us. I noticed one of the gorilla-elephants had a small and pale creature, with grayish stripes going down its face and red eyes without a pupil or a white, crouching on its massive head. When it turned to look at us, its small horns glowed red briefly. All of the things continued on, seemingly oblivious to us other than that one.

"No," Aqualad said in a dry, but shocked, voice, "Nothing odd going on here,"

Kid Flash pointed at my hair, "Your hair is smoking," he said.

I twisted to get a better look at my now-flaming locks. Squeaking nervously, I quickly put out the fire with a flustered snap of my fingers.

"It's happened before?" I offered up as an answer to the puzzled looks on their faces. "Whatever," I said, "Can we just move on?"

That seemed to shake them all out of their thoughts, as we continued to make our way through through the maze of halls.

* * *

Aqualad and I waited patiently, Kid Flash pacing at high speeds behind us, while Robin hacked open another pair of doors.

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed," he said at the sight on the other side of the doors.

We were in yet another room with a high ceiling, but that's not what shocked us (obviously, seeing as low ceilings didn't seem to be an option in these underground levels). Along both walls stretching all the way up were pods, each holding some sort of bug-thing with little jolts of lightning shooting off of it. They seemed to be creating electricity and sending it to a large generator.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world," Kid Flash said in an awed voice, walking along the sides of the room and looking inside of the pods. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid! It generates its own power with these… things," He continued, gesturing towards one of them. "Must be what they're bred for!"

"That's right," I said slowly as I thought, remembering a random fact I had learned from the mythology book Fire had given me for my birthday two years ago. "In Greek mythology, King Cadmus created a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"And this Cadmus creates new life, too," Robin added thoughtfully, walking over to a small computer and plugging in his holo-glove. "Let's find out why."

"They call them genomorphs." He continued, typing and bringing up files. "Woah! Look at the stats on these things: Super Strength, telepathy, razor claws, these are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army." Kid Flash concluded. "But for who?"

"Wait, there's something else," Robin interjected, taping the corner of the screen and bringing up even more computer codes. Aqualad and I stepped up to look over his shoulders. "Project Kr. Ugh, the files are triple encrypted. I can't-"

"Don't move!" A commanding voice rang out. We looked down the hallway to see someone running with a small pack of those… genomorphs scampering around him. The man was in a mostly gray shirt, with a dark blue top half, and pants of the same gray, but he had a golden helmet and arm-shield. "Wait… Robin, Aqualad, Ember, Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin said, smirking at the speedster.

"I know you…" Aqualad said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "Guardian, a hero."

"I do my best," he replied, a proud edge lacing his voice as he straightened himself.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash asked incredulously.

"I'm Chief of Security. You're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out." His voice began to sound more amicable, and less threatening.

"The League w-wouldn't let you continue to engineer living weapons!" I said, trying to seem brave but cursing my shaky voice that failed me.

"Weapons?" Guardian said in a shocked voice. "What are you-" the little genomorph on his shoulder turned his head, horns glowing an eerie red. _Come to think of it,_ I pondered, _He looks just like the little guy that was on the gorilla-phant's head!_

"What have I... uh… my head!" he said placing a hand against his helmet as if it was hurting him. A moment later he snapped out of it, and the genomorph's horns stopped glowing. "Take 'em down hard!" Guardian commanded, pointing to us, his expression now cold and unfeeling. "No mercy!"

The bigger genomorphs rushed at us, snarling. Robin quickly threw a smoke bomb to the ground, engulfing the room in smoke. I heard something that sounded like a grapple gun attaching to metal, but I was too busy pushing genomorphs off of me to question it too much.

With a few well-aimed bursts of fire, the little genomorphs attacking me all lay incapacitated on the floor. Seeing Kid Flash and Aqualad in a similar struggle, I quickly created a lasso out of fire and grabbed the creatures attacking them.

"Go!" I told them. "I got these ones." I hit all of the genomorphs with a fire whip I had in my other hand, knocking them out of the way and to the ground. Sprinting to go faster and avoid being caught by the creatures chasing me, I ran down the hallway through which everyone had disappeared. Catching up, I stopped in front of the elevator door Robin was hacking and glared at him. "Thanks for the assist, Wonder Bread,"

"Yeah! Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash added.

"Weren't you right behind me?" he said, surprised, finishing hacking. The doors slid open and we rushed into the elevator just in time, the doors sliding shut with the genomorphs stuck on the other side.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad asked, noting the increasing value of the floor numbers displayed on the monitor.

"Dude, out is up," Kid Flash said.

"Excuse me, Project Kr?" Robin said, raising an eyebrow. "It's down, on Sublevel 52."

 _Oh,_ I thought, _So that's what "SL" stood for._

"This is getting way out of control," I sighed softly, tugging on the ends of my hair nervously. I smoothly pulled it out of its currently messy ponytail and tied it back again, but more neatly.

"Perhaps… perhaps we should contact the League," Aqualad said, also sounding worried.

The elevator pinged and the doors slid open on Sublevel 52, revealing ugly, bumpy walls that seemed pretty unnatural. Robin ran out of the elevator, scouting ahead.

"We _are_ already here," Kid Flash reasoned. Aqualad and I sighed in unison, but followed them nonetheless.

Coming to a fork in the passages, we stopped to decide which path to follow. Both were pinkish and purple, round with bumpy and uneven walls.

"Which way?" Aqualad asked, crouching down with the rest of us behind some kind of metal barrels.

"Yeah. Bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?" Robin said, gesturing to each one in turn.

"I don't know, they both look like the inside of intestines to me." I said, gagging slightly.

"Halt!" said a figure standing in what I think was bizarre looking hallway two. _Wait a minute…_ I thought, _He's the freaky creature I saw in the elevator!_

He lifted his bluish hand while his horns glowed and some of the barrels flew into the air at us. We dodged, and Robin threw a birdarang at him. However, the creature stopped it with his telekinesis, throwing more barrels at us as we ran down hallway one. Since they exploded when they landed, I stopped and quickly amplified the flames that were already licking the sides of the hallway. Soon enough there was a veritable wall of fire, and I caught up with the others, my little job done.

Sliding doors with the words **Project Kr** on them opened to reveal a scientist taking notes on a clipboard. She looked up at the sound of our footsteps and got knocked over by Kid Flash when he skidded and couldn't stop quickly enough.

He pushed himself off the ground, picked up a straight metal barrel and wedged it in the rapidly closing door. "Hurry!" He called, gesturing inside of the room. We all stepped over the barrel into the room and Aqualad kicked it out of the doorway so it would close. While Robin hacked the locking mechanism so it wouldn't open, I welded the door shut with a high-heat burst of flame to make sure no one could get in, just as an extra precaution.

Since I finished quickly, I had the chance to glance around the room quickly. It was pretty dark, all made of metal, and really pretty cold. A control board lay near the middle of the room, in front of some kind of unilluminated pod. My focus was pulled back to the others when Robin stood up abruptly.

"I disabled the door," Robin said.

"And I melted it together. We're safe," I added.

"We're trapped," Aqualad said grimly.

"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash said uncertainly. "You'll want to see this." Stepping up to the table covered with buttons and levers, he pressed a few keys and the big pod that was in the center of the room was suddenly lit up.. Inside, was what looked like… Well, like _Superman_.

"Woah," said Robin, eyes widening.

"That's something," I whispered, shocked.

Kid Flash walked up to the pod slowly, staring at it. Inside, there was the… Super-double, wearing a glowy white suit with a red S-shield on his chest. His eyes were closed, as if he were asleep, and there were three of the little genomorphs with horns sitting in little bubbles above his head. Then on the outside, there was a gray painted-on 'K' and 'R' in a square.

"Big K, little R!" Wally said slowly, snapping his fingers as a thought struck him. "The atomic symbol for Krypton!" He turned back to us quickly. "Clone?"

Aqualad looked to Robin. "Robin, hack."

"Right, right," He plugged the holographic computer in his glove into a monitor with the "Project Cadmus" logo on it. Tapping a few keys to bypass the security system, he waited for all of the little Robin heads on screen to turn from red to green, signaling that he was in.

I looked over his shoulder to see the information on the Super-double. "Weapon designation 'Superboy.' It's a clone force grown in… 16 weeks?!" My eyes widened, and I froze, stopping reading it aloud.

"From DNA acquired from Superman…" Robin finished.

"Stolen from Superman." Aqualad inferred gravely.

"No way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash scoffed.

"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7!" I exclaimed. "That's crazy."

"And those… creatures?" Aqualad asked tentatively, pointing at the genomorphs.

"Genomorph Gnomes. Telepathic." Robin explained. "Force-feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else." Wally determined, frowning.

"Superman's… well, his _son_ … is becoming a slave for Project Cadmus." I spoke up, crossing my arms and staring at Superboy in his pod. "I think _this_ at least warrants the League's attention."

Aqualad nodded, tapping the little golden atlantean-stylized 'A' on his belt. It glowed blue but nothing happened. Robin grimaced, his attempt to use his computer to contact the League unsuccessful as well.

"No signal," he said.

"We're in too deep," Wally concluded, "Literally."

Suddenly, the little genomorphs horns began to glow red.

"Is that a good, or a bad sign?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter. This is wrong." Kid Flash declared.

"We can't just leave him like this." Robin turned to Aqualad for the final call.

"Set him free." He decided after a moment of thinking. "Do it."

Robin opened up his computer again and tapped a few keys, dragging his fingers down the screen.

A puff of air hissed out of the pod as the metal supports fell back and the front and sides of the glass slid upwards into the ceiling. The super-clone stayed motionless for a moment, but then his hands tightened into fists and his knuckles cracked. My eyes narrowed.

 _Now_ that's _probably not a good sign._ I thought, taking a small step back.

His eyes flew open, revealing electric blue irises. Suddenly, he pushed himself out of his pod and launched himself at Aqualad, punching him in the face and sending them both tumbling to the ground. They rolled, and Superboy was pinning him, holding him down at the shoulders. He swung back and punched Aqualad a good three times in the face before Kid Flash, Robin and I got there and struggled to hold him back.

Kid Flash grabbed one arm, Robin the other, and I linked my arms around his neck from behind, trying to restrain him and stop him from attacking us.

"Woah! Hang… on, Supey!" Kid Flash grunted.

"We're on… your… side!" Robin added.

Superboy's arm slipped out of Kid Flash's grasp, and the speedster got a punch to the chin that sent him flying across the room and into a glass tube, shattering it.

Superboy struggled and threw me backwards into the wall, knocking the breath out of me, while Robin kept holding on and placed a knock-out gas bomb in front of the clone's face. It spurted out green smoke and Superboy stumbled back, coughing slightly and holding his throat. Aqualad, still on the floor, reached up and kicked him in the face, propelling him across the room and wrecking a little control panel.

By this time, I had recovered, and I pushed myself off of the ground unsteadily. Coughing, Superboy stood up, just in time to get hit by Robin's taser and get electrocuted. I blasted a stream of flame in his face, but stopped in shock when Superboy, unaffected by the electricity and my fire, yanked on the taser's wires and pulled Robin to him, catching him in one hand then slamming him to the floor.

Superboy stepped on Robin's chest, pressing down painfully, making him gasp. Kid Flash was still down, probably unconscious, but Aqualad was recovering. We rushed at Superboy at the same time. Aqualad swung back with a hammer made of water, and I, my hair bursting into flame, threw a multitude of balls of fire in rapid succession.

"Enough!" We yelled in unison. Aqualad's hammer struck Superboy hard, sending flying into the metal backing of where his pod was, and my fire blasts hit home, making the clone hiss and wince in pain from the floor.

I knelt down next to Robin, trying to help him up, but he moaned and passed out. I dropped him gently to the floor, and stood up just in time to see Superboy stand up and walk towards Aqualad as if nothing we threw at him actually affected him.

I held up my hands as if to stop him. "Hey, _camarada_ , we're trying to help you!"

This only seemed to anger Superboy more, as he rushed at me head-on.

 _Oh shoot_ , I thought, my eyes widening. I quickly dodged the punch he threw at me, and Aqualad tackled him, sending the both of the flying into the wall, sending up a cloud of dust that I immediately ducked into.

Aqualad had Superboy pinned to the ground, and was about to punch him when the clone caught his fist and kicked him away. They both hopped up quickly, and I threw a jet of fire at Superboy that he dodged, throwing a punch at Aqualad. He retaliated with a knee to the abdomen and two quick punches to the chest. Superboy, grabbing Aqualad's fist as he tried to get in one more punch, threw him into the wall.

I rushed at him, throwing balls of flame that he swatted away like they just annoyed him. Growling, I light my fists on fire and ducked his kick, punching him in the chest. 'Flaming up' my foot, I tried to to a quick spin kick with fire, but he caught my ankle and twisted it, making me gasp in pain. Dark spots speckled on the edge of my vision, and when he threw me to the ground, I flickered in and out of consciousness for a minute. Flashes of Aqualad getting back up and fighting Superboy, electrocuting him but being rammed into the ceiling, swept across my vision.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was Superboy ripping open the doors to reveal a group of genomorphs and scientists, as well as Guardian, and all I could think was, _So much for my stellar welding job_.

* * *

 **Yaaay! Unconsciousness for the nice little heroes. *coos and squeezes chibi YJ in a hug***

 **Tell me what you thought! I'm not sure about the fight scenes, so let me know how those are (I don't think I'm very good at writing them D: ).**

 ***puppy dog eyes* Review? I'll give you a Robin… *drags out a herd of Robins and hugs them* :D**

 **lmh2002: Yeah, once the Cadmus episodes are over, I'll have some Fire and Ember family time. More Team interactions will also happen. :)**

 **SnowWolf22: Well, if you like Ice then that's awesome, 'cause she'll be like an aunt-figure for Ember. In fact, she'll be showing up in a few chapters. So that's cool. /bah dum tiss/ Bad ice pun.**


	3. Escape From Cadmus

**I hope you like this chapter! I'm sorry it took me a while; lots of stuff was going on. But now I'm officially out of school, so hopefully updates will be more regular.**

 **PS: The random bits in another language are Portuguese words that I'm too lazy to translate for you.**

 **PPS: I have a poll on my profile. Go vote if you can, I'd love to know what more people think! :)**

* * *

 _The last thing she remembers from that day is the smell of smoke and the sound of crackling flames._

"Olá _, Cori! Are_ Mamãe _and Dad home?"_

 _Basil's backpack fell to the kitchen floor with a thump. He strolled over next to Coriander casually, tugging sharply on one of her golden-blonde braids when he stopped._

" _No, and if you had been listening last night at dinner instead of throwing your food into Taco's mouth, you would have known that they were going to see your principal." She snapped, glaring at him. "Can you leave me alone now? I have to study for the math test tomorrow,_ estúpido," _That last word she mumbled, turning away from her little brother._

 _Basil's eyes narrowed. "Well, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I guess school is more important than communicating with your own brother, then. But why should I care? I'm an idiot, right?"_

 _Coriander pushed herself off of the barstool she had been sitting on, growling. "This test is worth half of the term's overall grade! If I don't study, then I'll fail. And I sure don't want to get kicked out of my school like you did!"_

 _Basil glared, raising his voice. "Well at least I try to have fun in class, and I have friends! Who do you have, your books?_ Mamãe _?"_

 _Coriander flinched as if she had been slapped. "You are the most irresponsible, irritating creature in the world! You're selfish, you have no regard for others' needs, and you only think about yourself!" she began screaming._

 _Basil's eyes widened, becoming slightly fearful. "Cori, Cori, wait, stop it…"_

" _Stop what?! Telling you what you've needed to hear for the past 10 years of your short existence? You need to be knocked off your high horse, because there's this thing called growing up, which is where you take responsibility for your actions! That is clearly something that has never registered with you."_

" _Cori, stop it, look behind you, Cori, the table's—"_

" _Shut up, Basil! You need to learn some respect! As soon as_ Mamãe _and Dad get home, I'm going to—"_

" _Cori!" Basil shrieked. "Cori, stop it, stop, the house is on fire!"_

 _Coriander froze. "Wh-what?" Quickly, she looked around and gasped when she saw her surroundings._

 _Flames licked the walls and were quickly burning through them. Smoke was filling the room, which had gotten hotter and hotter, and how had she not noticed, this was crazy!_

 _Basil coughed from inhaling smoke. "We… we have to get out of here!"_

 _He grasped Coriander's arm and began pulling her out the kitchen. He had just pushed her through the door frame, him a few feet behind, when a huge burning wooden beam fell came crashing down, blocking his escape._

" _Basil!" she screamed, pounding on the wood, not caring that it was on fire. "Basil! Answer me,_ estúpido _!"_

" _Cori!" She heard him yell faintly. A horde of coughs followed._

" _Bas! G-go out through the dining room!"_

" _I—" He coughed violently. "I can't! It's blocked!"_

" _It's… it's okay, Basil! I'm gonna get you out! Just hold on!"_

 _Out of nowhere, another huge crash echoed from Basil's side of the blocked doorway. After it, Coriander couldn't hear anything but the flames crackling anymore. Basil's coughing was gone._

" _Basil!" she shrieked, pounding on the wood. Her sleeves caught fire, but her skin wasn't burned—not that she noticed. "Basil! Basil, c'mon, answer me!"_

 _Silence._

" _Basil?" she tried, voice cracking. "B-Bas?"_

 _She coughed, falling to the ground. Slowly, her eyelids slid closed and she slipped into unconsciousness._

 _The fire raged on around her, but left her unharmed._

 _ **Time runs short.**_

 _Coriander was in a hospital bed, laying down. A woman with similar facial features, but chocolate brown hair, clearly her mother, was sitting down stiffly in a nearby plastic chair._

"Mamãe _?" Coriander asked tentatively, voice trembling nervously._

 _Her mother's eyes flashed angrily and she stood up abruptly. "You are not my daughter and I am not your mother. As far as I'm concerned, both of my children died in that fire." She quickly stormed towards the door._

"Mamãe _! C-come back!"_

 _ **You must awaken.**_

" _Are you sure this is what you want to do? Losing a child is difficult, and you may be thinking rashly before you've recovered from your loss." That was the social worker._

" _We're sure." Dad._

" _With Basil gone, the best thing for Coriander now is to find a new home."_ Mamãe _._

 _The unspoken words were clear: Her parents didn't want her anymore, and she was no longer a part of their family._

 _ **You must awaken, NOW.**_

My eyelids fluttered, and I slowly opened them, wincing as I remembered what I had dreamt about. _Of all the times to get a flashback and think of Basil._ I tried to draw my hands over to rub my eyes, and frowned when I realized that they were cuffed above my head. Looking around, I noticed that Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin were in glass pods like my own.

In front of us, the clone was glaring at Kid Flash with a grimace on his face. His hands were clenched in fists by his sides. _He does not look happy._

"What? W-what do you want?" Kid Flash demanded. The super-clone's eyes narrowed, but he stayed completely motionless otherwise.

"Quit staring, you're creeping me out!"

"Uh, KF?" Robin cut in. "How about we _not_ tick off the guys who can fry us with a look?"

"You know, we were trying to get you out. We're not the bad guys here." I said softly, looking at the clone in the eye.

"We only sought to help you," Aqualad added.

Kid Flash scowled. "Yeah, we free you, and you turn on us. How's that for grat- "

"Kid, please." Aqualad interrupted. "Be quiet now. I believe our new friend was not in full control of his actions."

Superboy looked down, hesitating. "W-what if I… what if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" KF said incredulously.

I rolled my eyes. _Sure, why not, let's make the guy who could easily kill us mad, that's a great plan!_

" _Yes._ _He_ can!" The clone answered angrily.

I turned to Kid Flash, my _Really?_ look mirrored on Robin's face. Aqualad kept eye contact with the clone.

"Not like I said it, beautiful." he defended, looking at me.

"The genomorphs… they taught you, then? With their telepathy?" I said, sighing and turning back to the super-clone.

"They taught me much. I can read, write. I know the names of things."

"Have you ever looked at them, though?" I asked gently.

"Have they ever actually let you see the… the sky? Or the sun?" Robin said.

"Images are implanted, in my mind. But… no. I have not _seen_ them." He looked sort of… sad when he said this.

"Do you know what you are?" Aqualad asked. "Who you are?"

The clone straightened. "I am the Superboy. A genomorph, a clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish, to destroy him should he turn from the Light."

Alarm flashed across all our faces, and we exchanged worried glances.

"To be like Superman is… a worthy aspiration, but like Superman, you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solarsuit. Beyond your pod. Beyond Cadmus." Aqualad said.

Here Superboy's expression, calm a minute ago, hardened and grew angry. "I live _because_ of Cadmus! It is my home!" he yelled.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Your 'home' is a test tube. _We_ can show you the sun."

I winced. "I-I'm pretty sure it's nighttime by now. But we'd show you the moon… o-or the stars?"

"We can show you, introduce you, to Superman." Aqualad added.

Superboy's face softened and become kind of… hopeful.

"No." A voice rang out and I looked up. A man in a lab coat with glasses and a ponytail stood in the doorway, along with Guardian and the female scientist KF had knocked over earlier. On each of their shoulders was one of the little G-Gnomes with the glowy horns. "They can't. They'll be otherwise occupied." The man continued on smugly.

He turned to the female scientist. "Activate the cloning process."

"Pass!" Robin declared. "Batcave's crowded enough."

 _And I don't think_ two _Kid Flashes in the world would be wise. The amount of cheesy flirting would be unbearable._

"And get the weapon back in its pod!" the man snapped, turning to Guardian.

"Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?" Kid Flash asked as Guardian walked up to Superboy, footsteps echoing slightly on the metal floor. He put a hand on the clone's shoulder.

"Help us." Aqualad asked. Superboy's eyes narrowed and he shrugged off Guardian's hand.

The scientist sighed. "Don't start thinking now!" As he walked, his G-Gnome hopped from his shoulder to Superboy's. Its horns glowed red and Superboy relaxed, as if the will to fight had been drained from his body.

"See, you're not a real boy, you're a weapon." _Lie._ "And you belong to me! Well. To Cadmus. Same thing! Now get back to your pod!"

Superboy turned slowly and walked away from us and out of the room. The doors slid shut behind him and locked with a click.

The female scientist was at some sort of control panel, and she tapped a few keys. Two metal arms with four different little prongs sprung up inside each of our pods. They froze for a moment and I stared at them.

Then they sunk into my chest, and I was no longer capable of coherent thinking. All I could feel was pain. Electricity coursed through my body, and I screamed out in agony.

From the back of my mind, I registered that the scientists had begun talking and the horned creature from earlier had reappeared.

My jaw clenched and I let out another scream. _No,_ I thought. _Have to… have to focus. Need… need help._

I pushed the pain to the corner of my mind as best as I could. Taking a quick breath, I started talking.

"Superboy. Y-you… you live. They say y-you're just a weapon. That could be true, _but only if you choose it to be_. You're alive, it's up to you to find your own path,: a weapon, or a person. It's your choice, your right to a choice. But ask yourself. _What do you think Superman would do?_ "

I couldn't bear it anymore. I screamed, tears trickling down my cheeks. I could only hope that Superboy had heard me. _Please, please have super hearing._

Suddenly, I heard a thump, then a loud thud. Through my blurry vision, I saw Superboy rip the door away, which must have cut the power because the electricity stopped, and toss it back into the hallway behind him. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.

"I told you to get back to your- " The scientist's words were cut off as he, Guardian, the horned creature, and the female scientist were thrown out of the way like they were nothing.

" _Don't_ give me orders." Superboy growled, then he walked up to us and stopped before our pods.

"You here to help us, or fry us?" Kid Flash asked. Superboy's eyes narrowed.

"Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision, so I guess helping is my only option." I smiled at that.

Robin, who could apparently pick locks like a pro, dropped out of his pod, free of his cuffs and rubbing his presumably sore wrists. "Urgh, finally. Lucky Batman _isn't_ here. He'd have my head for taking so long."

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about?" KF scoffed. "The whole _League_ will have our heads after tonight!"

Ignoring him, Robin pressed a button on the control board that made the metal arms retract and our pods slide open. He turned to Superboy. "Free Aqualad and Ember. I'll get Kid _Mouth_."

"Don't you give me orders, either." Superboy lept up and released Aqualad, helping him to the ground. Next he broke my cuffs, catching me when I stumbled, weak from the electrocution. When he turned to step away after I had righted myself, I caught his arm.

"Thank you." I said quietly, giving him a smile. He nodded, backing away.

We all ran to the gap where the door once was, passing the scientists, Guardian, and the horned creature.

"You'll… you'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods before morning." the male scientist yelled after us determinedly.

"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all." Robin muttered as he threw four birdarangs, one into each of the glass orbs filled with blood by each pod.

"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" Kid Flash asked as we kept running, the birdarangs exploding behind us, taking out the pods and the orbs, as well as destroying a good part of the room.

We sprinted along the creepy hallway, moving as fast as we could, considering four of us had just endured continuous electrocution. "We are still forty-two levels below ground." Aqualad declared. "But if we can make the elevator…"

Sadly, luck wasn't on our side (it never seems to be), because a small horde of the gorilla-phants like the ones on Sublevel 26 had gathered. blocking our path to the elevator. We skidded to a stop and looked behind us.

Some of the lumps on walls had begun to glow red, like the G-Gnomes' horns, and out of them burst snarling genomorphs with sharp claws.

A gorilla-phant roared and raised its arms, bringing them down and slamming them where we had just been a moment ago. Superboy growled and leapt up, punching it in the face and sending it falling to the ground. He landed, just in time to get smashed by another giant genomorph fist.

Out of nowhere, a gorilla-phant came rushing at me. I tried to dodge its sharp tusks, which were aimed right at my stomach, but couldn't quite manage it. One of the horns just barely pierced the skin on my side, and with a sharp jerk of the creature's head, tore a gash all the way from above my hip to my ribs.

I gasped in pain, stumbling backwards. I touched the wound with a finger, letting out a whimper when pain rocketed through me like lightning. Looking at the finger, it was red from blood. My blood. Blood that was currently dripping from my stomach at an alarming rate.

The crash of one of the genomorphs hitting the ground knocked me out of my daze. I looked up to see three gorilla-phants still standing, including one with my blood on its tusk.

Just as that gorilla-phant was backing away for another charge at me, Superboy slammed into it and pummeled it against the wall, making the ceiling and walls start to crumble.

"Superboy!" Aqualad cautioned. "The goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here!"

"You want escape?!" Superboy roared. He picked up an unconscious gorilla-phant by its arm and threw it into the two remaining giant genomorphs. They all tumbled to the ground.

We ran past them as quickly as we could, arriving at the elevator. I ignored the throbbing pain from my injury as Aqualad pulled apart the doors and we all looked up at the ever-extending Sublevels.

Kid Flash hopped in first, onto a tiny ledge by the side of the shaft. Robin shot up his grapple gun, grabbing KF on the way and pulling him up to on of the higher ledges. I cracked my knuckles and flew up in the air using a jet of flame. Next to me was Superboy carrying Aqualad.

However, the two started to fall. "I'm falling," Superboy whispered.

Robin, noticing their descent, threw a birdarang into the wall of the elevator shaft that Aqualad caught. I dropped down onto the ledge below them in time to hear Superboy say, "Superman can fly. Why can't I fly?"

"Dunno." KF shrugged. "But it looks like you can leap up tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool."

"Thank you," Superboy muttered to Aqualad as they dropped onto the ledge.

"Guys!" Robin yelled, bringing my attention back to him. "This'll have to be our exit!" He pointed to the elevator that was above us, and currently moving down quickly. Superboy sent the doors flying out into the hallway before us, allow us to jump to safety just as the elevator sailed past us.

I noted the number above the opening as we spun around and began sprinting down a hallway to avoid the genomorphs that had gathered before the elevator.

"We're on Sublevel 15. There's still a ways to go. Any bright ideas?" I said.

"Go left! Left!" Superboy yelled. We spun and turned the next corner. "Right!"

This led us to a dead end, where we all skidded to a stop. The only thing on the wall before us was a small ventilation shaft.

"Ugh, _great_ directions, Supey!" Kid Flash's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Are you _trying_ to get us re-podded?"

"N-no, I don't understand…"

"Don't apologize!" Robin smirked. "This is perfect!"

He quickly pulled off the vent cover and slipped inside, gesturing for us to follow. I slid in after him, moving quickly as I was starting to hear the growls and snarls of the genomorphs. Aqualad, Kid Flash and Superboy followed.

We crawled through the ventilation shaft as quickly as we could, but it wasn't all that fast. "Ugh, at this rate, we'll never get out!" Kid Flash declared annoyedly.

"Shh!" Superboy whispered. "Listen." We turned to look back behind us.

Scuttling. Claws scraping on metal. Faint, but it was there. "Genomorphs," I whispered.

Robin quickly crawled into a main shaft, a wider one, and after a few twists and turns, lead us to a grate. He kicked it off and hopped down.

I followed, wincing when I landed. My head swam from what I thought must be blood loss because, _oh, right, I have a giant bleeding gash on my abdomen._

Robin turned to look back at me from where he was crouched, hacking into the Cadmus systems. His eyes widened at the sight of the blood on my stomach. "Jesus, Ember, where did you get that?!"

I looked down. "Oh… one of those gorilla-elephant's tusks scraped me."

" _Scraped_ you? It practically tore a hole in your stomach! KF, here, take this medkit and fix her up, ASAP."

Kid Flash grabbed the kit out of Robin's hands and ran over to me. He opened it up quickly, rifling through it for the supplies he needed. Pulling out a roll of gauze and a mini spray bottle of antiseptic triumphantly, he set to work, instructing me to hold gauze over the wound and keep pressure on it.

Within a couple minutes, the bleeding had pretty much stopped, for the most part. I winced as KF sprayed the antiseptic into the wound, then I carefully wrapped bandages around my stomach, covering the cut.

"Are you good?" Robin asked, Aqualad hovering behind him anxiously.

I did a tiny twist and stretch, and when I didn't fall over in agony (it still hurt like hell though), he seemed satisfied. "Good, because I hacked the motion sensors." He smirked proudly.

"Sweet!" Wally exclaimed, grinning and looking happy.

"There's still a ways between us and out," I reminded him.

"But I've finally got room to move, beautiful!" KF slipped on his goggles and zoomed through the nearby doorway to the stairs. Superboy, Robin, Aqualad and I followed as best we could, considering my injury and our collective not-superspeed-ness.

Unfortunately, genomorphs were rushing down the stairs in front of Kid Flash. Speeding up for a moment, he knocked them over, sending them flying like bowling pins. Robin, glancing at his holo-screen, yelled out, "More behind us!"

Superboy's turned back for a moment and stomped down hard on the stairs, breaking them right before the landing, sending the genomorphs that were chasing us straight down.

Soon we reached the top of the stairs and pushed the door open to red flashing lights and sirens. We skidded to a stop behind Kid Flash, who was rubbing his head as he lay on the floor.

"We're cut off from the street," Aqualad declared, looking at the emergency doors that had locked in front of us. Clearly, Kid Flash hadn't been able to stop fast enough and had crashed into them.

"Thanks, my head hadn't noticed," KF said sarcastically, pushing himself off of the ground.

Superboy tried to open the door, grunting. Aqualad stepped in to help, and together, each grasping one of the doors, began trying to yank the doors open.

"Can't hack this fast enough," Robin said desperately. Giant gorilla-phants started coming up from behind us. Seeing them, I quickly looked for a way out.

"Come one, this way!" I yelled, kicking open a nearby door and rushing through it.

Luck really wasn't on our side today, as before us in the huge room the doorway had opened into, was a veritable army of genomorphs: clawed ones, G-Gnomes, gorilla-phants, and more. They were headed by Guardian, with a G-Gnome on his shoulder, standing in front of us.

Behind us stomped in the other gorilla-phants. Aqualad use his water-bearers to create a pair of swords, and my hands burst into flame. We all settled into fighting stances, ready to go down fighting if we had to.

Suddenly, all of the G-Gnomes' horns glowed red. My arms went limp and I collapsed to the ground with a moan, my eyes rolling into my head.

What felt like a minute later, I groan softly and pushed myself up, my head aching. Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash seemed to have similar headaches.

Superboy was standing, back to us, looking at the horned creature with blueish skin. " _I. Choose. Freedom._ "

I stood up as Guardian put a hand to his helmeted head. "Feels like fog… lifting." he muttered.

"Guardian?" Aqualad asked cautiously.

The older hero's face grew determined. "Go." he ordered. "I'll deal with Desmond."

"I think not." A voice rang out. The genomorphs parted, and behind them stood the crazy male scientist, Dr. Desmond, holding a test tube filled with a glowy blue liquid.. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus."

He downed the liquid in one gulp.

The effects were instantaneous. Desmond began twitching, moaning, and he fell to the floor with a thud. His muscles increased in size rapidly, tearing his shirt and lab coat. He growled, sounding more and more animalistic.

Desmond looked up slightly, and I registered that his eyes had turned completely black, with a red pupil, before his face's skin tore, revealing some kind of blue hide, or muscles beneath. He pushed himself up, roaring as most of the rest of his skin ripped off, leaving only shreds clinging to his skin.

Desmond was breathing heavily, his blue muscle contracting and relaxing, now enormous and towering over us all.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian commanded, spreading his arms out to move us back. Then he rushed at Desmond before I could tell him that seemed like a bad idea, which was probably right because the former scientist sent him flying across the room and into a wall with one swat of his hand.

My eyes widened, and Superboy pounced, punching Desmond a couple times before the creature slammed its fist into his face. Superboy recovered quickly though, and got in three more fists to Desmond's face before being punched himself and sent tumbling to the ground.

Superboy jumped up to pounce on Desmond again, but the creature met him mid-leap, roaring, and sent them both crashing to the ceiling and through to the floor above.

"Okay, that's one way to get us up to ground level, I suppose." I said, staring up at the whole they made.

"You think labcoat planned that?" Kid Flash asked as Robin shot up his grapple and flew up to the floor above, the speedster clinging to his arm.

"I doubt he is planning anything now." Aqualad muttered, leaping up through the hole. I followed with a burst of flame, wincing as I landed badly on my ankle.

In front of us, Desmond had Superboy in a grip that he quickly escaped, punching the blue creature in the face, but he was caught by the ankle and thrown towards us. He knocked Aqualad and I to the ground, and I landed painfully on my stomach, the spots of blood seeping through the bandage reminding me that I wasn't in top shape. I pushed through the pain, though, and struggled into an upright position.

Desmond roared, sending spit flying from his mouth. He rushed forward, and Kid Flash sped to meet him. The creature tried slamming its fists down where the speedster was, but he slid in between its legs. It turned to look at him, and spun back to face us just in time for Superboy and Aqualad to sucker-punch him at the same time.

Desmond toppled backwards, and tripped over Kid Flash who had positioned himself perfectly, hitting the floor with a thud.

"Learned that one in kindergarten." he said triumphantly just as Robin and I leaped over him, spinning. Robin threw a pair of birdarangs midair, and I thrust a jet a flame towards the creature's face. Desmond twisted and dodged Robin's projectiles, but my fire hit him in the back. He roared in what I hoped was pain, and not anger. Looking up, he must have seen Superboy, which made him angry- _Oh boy, just what I wanted_ \- not.

Desmond lunged at Superboy and pushed him back into one of the stone pillar holding up the room's ceiling, sending stone bits crumbling down. Superboy managed to punch him a few times before being hit himself, crumbling the pillar a bit more.

But when the former scientist tried to draw back his arm for another punch, my fire whip and Aqualad's water one caught on his bicep. Growling, Desmond jerked his arm forward, pulling us both towards him. Aqualad pushed off of his face, and I his shoulder, and the atlantean slammed down with a water mace while I just flipped over the creature's head and back behind him.

Desmond caught Aqualad's weapon in his fist, and threw him to the ground, forcing me to leap backwards to dodge. With me busy trying to help Aqualad up, he had the chance the pick up Superboy again and throw him into another pillar forcefully, making this one crack, too.

Kid Flash, determined, ran up Desmond as he was lifting a foot to crush Aqualad (I was trying and failing to pull the atlantean out of the way), but the creature grabbed him by the arm.

KF was in the air, and Aqualad just stood up with his mace again, me by his side, when Desmond threw the speedster at the two of us and sent all three flying. Aqualad and Kid Flash both landed against pillars while I skidded and rolled on the floor.

 _Great. Now I'm bleeding, and I'm sore and bruised, too. Oh, what a life I'm living._

I was pushing myself off the ground when I noticed the ceiling starting to crumble with each punch Desmond threw at Aqualad, who was pushed up against a pillar. Robin, who was on the other side of the room, exclaimed, "Of course!" and taped for a moment on his holo-glove.

"KF!" he called. "Ember! Get over here!"

Once at his side, the two of us stared at what he had to show us. "Look at the structural plans for this room. Those pillars are the only thing holding up the place. Take them out, the building collapses."

One of the pillars on the hologram flashed red before the bottom half of it disappeared. I looked up at the corresponding pillar and saw Desmond slamming Superboy against it, the bottom half crumbled away.

"Got it?" Robin asked, shutting off the hologram.

"Got it." KF and I said at the same time. He sped off towards Desmond, and I was about to follow his lead when Robin grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Ember, you're no shape to do this. You're in the worst condition of us all, as far as I can tell. You can barely run. Just… stay here, okay?"

"What? N-no! I can help!" I defended myself. My eyes flicked back to Desmond; he was chasing Kid Flash around, roaring.

Robin frowned, clearly not about to let me fight any more. "At least let me set up a few of your bombs on the pillars." I demanded, holding out my hand.

Hesitating for a moment, he sighed and placed a few birdarangs in my hands. "Put at least two on each pillar, maybe three." he instructed before running off to talk to Superboy and Aqualad.

 _Okay._ I thought. _Setting up bombs. How hard can it be, right?_

I stabbed three of the birdarangs into the nearest pillar, then another three in the one past it. I saw Superboy and Aqualad taking out some more, other birdarangs in the rest, while KF distracted Desmond and Robin drew a big X on the ground in chalk. His pillars destroyed, Aqualad jetted water from his bearers onto the ground, letting Kid splash it into a straight line towards the X.

As Desmond rushed at him, roaring, I ran over, too, ignoring my aching muscles and my throbbing stomach injury. Right before he reached the water, Superboy punched the former scientist in the face, sending him sliding onto the X. Aqualad quickly electro-shocked the water, making the creature roar in pain, immobilized.

"Move!" Robin yelled. "Ember, get over here!" I just managed to reach them when Robin's birdarangs went off, exploding the remaining pillars. The supports crumbled and the building shook. Huge chunks of the stone ceiling fell, raining down on the floor, landing directly on Desmond. The walls of the building soon followed its roof, and dust filled the air as Superboy tackled the rest of us and shielded us from the majority of the rubble.

The entire Cadmus building had just collapsed, practically on top of us.

Superboy shoved the rubble off of us, and we stood us, bruised but otherwise unharmed (except for that, you know, _bleeding gash on my stomach_ ).

Breathing heavily, we started to smile. "We… we did it." Aqualad said, shock lacing his tone.

"Was there… ever any doubt?" Robin smirked. He and Kid Flash high fived, but groaned, wincing as it aggravated their wounds.

I stood a little bit off to the side from the group, fingering my bandage, now dirty and partially torn. I watched as Superboy took a few steps towards Desmond, who was unconscious, trapped underneath a massive chunk of rock. Walking up next to him, I pointed to the night sky.

"See," I said softly. "The stars. The moon." They all followed my finger and looked up to the twinkling and glowing light in the sky. A tiny dot appeared in front of the moon, growing slowly as it approached us.

 _It's bird, it's a plane! No, wait-_

"Oh, _and_ Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?" Kid Flash added, smiling as look of wonder appeared on Superboy's face at the sight of his… well, his _father_.

Behind the Man of Steel gathered the entire Justice League, those who could fly floating down on their own, and the others, like Fire, on a glowing platform, courtesy of Green Lantern.

Superboy pushed past us gently and moved forwards. At the sight of him, Superman's eyes narrowed. His clone looked down at his solar suit, and adjusted the tear so that the entire S-shield was visible. Shock registered on Superman's face, and Superboy let out a small smile, but the former's turned to anger, Superboy's reflected it, with just a hint of indignation and hurt.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman intoned emotionlessly.

"He doesn't like being called an it!" Wally muttered. Superboy's face hardened and he spoke. "I'm Superman's clone."

Each and every one of the Leaguers looked shocked. I could hear a few gasps, and obviously none of them were expecting… that.

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Start talking."

Within a few minutes, we had summed up the story, and soon Desmond (now know as "Blockbuster") was flying off in a green bubble with the Hawks, the Lanterns, and Captain Atom.

We stood off from the Justice League, to the side, waiting for them to finish talking. Superman, with a nudge from Martian Manhunter, approached Superboy and spoke to him quickly before flying off. I could see the disappointment in Superboy's eyes as we all turned to look as Batman, Aquaman, Flash and Fire walked over.

"Cadmus will be investigated. All fifty-two levels." Batman said. "But let's make one thing clear."

"You should have called!" Flash interrupted.

"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives." With each 'misdemeanor,' Batman listed, I wilted just a little bit more. I couldn't even meet Fire's eyes. "You will _not_ be doing this again."

"I am sorry." Aqualad stated. "But we will."

"Aqualad," Aquaman cautioned. "Stand down."

"Apologies, my king, but no." Aquaman raised an eyebrow at his answer. "We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful. Important."

"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, _crianças_ , the three of you- " Fire said, crossing her arms.

Somehow, here I found my voice. "We're _not_ children. We're _young_. There's a difference, Fire." I interrupted her. "And it's the four of us. But how you treated us isn't it."

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us! Or… why teach us at all?" Robin said.

"Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way." Superboy stepped forward and we straightened ourselves up and into a line.

 _We are_ not _going down without one heck of a fight._

* * *

 **YAAAY! Cadmus is (sorta) defeated! :D**

 **I hope you enjoyed *coughcough* enough to review? *coughcough*! And please, remember to go vote on my poll! I'd love to know what more people think.**

 **Peace out, cheeseburgers. *disappears***


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